In a newly released email, a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. executive says a state official offered to write the utility a favorable opinion for a proposed gas rate hike.

According to KCRA's Hearst content partner, the San Francisco Chronicle, PG&E Vice President Brian Cherry says in the Jan. 14 email that California Public Utilities Commission member Mike Florio said he would write the opinion if PG&E did not like one written by another CPUC commissioner.

PG&E disclosed the email on Friday. It is the latest in a series of emails released by the utility and others, many of them also from January, that allegedly show PG&E executives privately negotiating with CPUC officials.

Florio says he recalls the conversation with Cherry differently. PG&E said in a statement it has reported violations, held senior-level officers accountable and made significant changes.